Adil Najam
The news is developing by the moment. But the bottom-line is clear. The security forces have taken control of the Lal Masjid from militants after a severe gun-battle. But the story is far from over.
It will continue to unfold. There are too many unanswered questions. They will certainly be asked and discussed threadbare; here at ATP and elsewhere. But the real story of tomorrow remains the same as the real story of yesterday. Can a society that is so deeply divided against itself learn the lessons of tolerance? This question will continue to haunt us well into the future, in multiple shapes, in multiple forms, in multiple contexts.
This is a question that we at ATP have confronted from our very beginning and will continue to confront. But now is not the time to ponder on this. Even though what has happened had become inevitable over the last many days, I am too heartbroken to be able to do so.
Right now I can think only of Muzammil Shah (photo, from Associated Press, above). This photo was taken as he waited for his son who was inside the Lal Masjid. I do not know whether his son was there voluntarily, or as hostage. But I do know what the look of Muzammil Shah’s face means. The more important question is whether his son came out alive or not. I pray that he did.
Analysts – me included – will discuss what happened at length. They will try to understand the meaning of all this. What does this mean for Pakistan politics? What does this mean for Gen. Musharraf’s future? What does this mean for Islam? For Democracy? Does the fault lie with Abdul Rashid Ghazi and his militant supporters for creating a situation that could only end this way? Why did he not surrender? Is the blood of everyone who died not on his head for his stubboness and arrogance? Or, maybe, it is the government that is to blame because it did not act earlier? Act differently? Waited just a few days more for a negotiated solution?
Right now all these questions seem really petty and small. This is not the time for scoring cheap political points. This is not the time for spin.
Moreover, there are too many questions to ask. To answer. The head hurts as you think of them. But the heart hurts even more as you look at the face of Muzammil Shah.
Maybe the only really important question is the one that you can read between his wrinkles: “Why? Oh God, why? Why must things happen this way?”
Interesting to note the people happy at this fiasco
1. Bush, Howard and Brown (for their interests)
2. Benazir (biggest opportunist)
3. Altaf (they murdered 40 people on the streets of karachi, did not allow CJ to leave the airport, in other words challanged the writ of the government yet not even an inquiry and a pat on the back by our president
4. liberals who always criticize religious parties for their suppoort of Zia’s dictatorial rule (rightly so) but support the current dictator in total disregard to the fact that he violated the contitution
5. Soon Israili and Indian PM will join the above list
Nice article by saleem shahzad..
Pakistan’s iron fist is to the US’s liking
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI – A last-minute intervention by Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf ended nine hours of negotiations seeking a peaceful end to the siege of the radical Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad.
Apparently saying he was “heavily under duress from his allies”, the president in the early hours of Tuesday instead ordered in the military to end the seven-day saga. Unconfirmed reports even say that Musharraf personally led the assault, along with Corps Commander Rawalpindi Lieutenant-General Tariq Majid. The media were barred from the mosque’s immediate vicinity.
Asia Times Online contacts believe that Musharraf was referring to Washington, which has in the past few months stepped up pressure on its partner in the “war on terror” to take action against al-Qaeda, the Taliban and foreign militants inside Pakistan.
When the siege of Lal Masjid began a week ago, the administration of US President George W Bush was fulsome in its praise that something was being done, as the mosque is a known supporter of al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and even a safe haven for militants.
According to the contacts, Musharraf said, “They want targets in Operation Silence,” referring to the code name for Tuesday’s final assault on the mosque. That is, the militants should be arrested or killed.
On Monday, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, commenting on terror, said, “We believe Pakistan is a good ally, a good friend in fighting terror. They have an issue there with violent extremism. It’s an issue that affects the Pakistani people as well as others in the region and the US.”
By Tuesday afternoon, Pakistani forces were in the final stages of clearing the mosque. They encountered fierce resistance, but the mosque itself was said to be secure. There was still resistance from fighters holed up in a nearby women’s seminary associated with the mosque. Pakistani media reported that at least 40 fighters and three soldiers had been killed.
The fate of Abdul Rasheed Ghazi is not known. He and his brother Abdul Aziz run the mosque. Ghazi was quoted on Geo TV as saying his mother had been wounded by gunfire. “The government is using full force. This is naked aggression. My martyrdom is certain now,” the television station quoted him as saying. Aziz was captured on Wednesday while trying to leave the mosque disguised as a women in a full-length veil.
At 5am, Ghazi sent text messages to journalists, including this one, saying, “My death is certain.” One of the ideologues of the mosque, Ume Hassan, Aziz’ wife, was arrested with her daughter Asma and 30 hardcore members of the Women’s Brigade of Lal Masjid.
The storming of the mosque is the first seizure of Taliban assets in Pakistan and is certain to have a strong ripple effect throughout the country as the mosque has strong links with jihadis and the Pakistani Taliban in the tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan.
Although the offensive in Pakistan’s federal capital – which has captured international headlines – is finally playing out, one question remains. Who is the real director of the drama? Observers and analysts believe there might be several – one running the show separately in Lal Masjid, and others pulling strings from the outside. If so, there can be no clean, simple end to the saga.
The next episode has already begun in Batkhaila, North West Frontier Province, where the pro-Taliban Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Moham has clashed with the military and seized all highways in the area, including on the Silk Road leading to China.
It is only a matter of time before the US-led “war on terror” formally crosses the Pakistani border.
When the talking stopped
Lengthy talks before the military assault led to an agreement – at about 2am – on a safe passage for Ghazi. This was couched in terms of an “honorable arrest” – brief protective custody.
The high-profile negotiating team included the Grand Mufti of Pakistan, Mufti Rafi Usmani; Minister of Religious Affairs Ejaz ul-Haq; and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, a former premier and president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League.
At this point, Ghazi said he would consult with his colleagues, and Hussain went off to confer with Musharraf for final approval of the agreement. Musharraf had earlier approved safe passage as an option.
When the two sides communicated again – via loudspeakers and mobile telephones – Ghazi apparently then wanted to know what would happen to the “foreign militants” inside the mosque. And crucially, Musharraf had changed almost all of the agreements in the draft. The authorities then told members of the negotiating team to return to their hotels, and at 4:30am 111 Brigade of the 10th Corps moved into action.
“Yes, the talks were successful. The draft was written. Abdul Rasheed Ghazi was to be allowed a safe passage, but then the draft was sent to the president and he amended it. Things were back to Square 1 and the talks failed,” a dejected Grand Mufti Usmani told Asia Times Online by telephone. He rarely leaves his seminary in Karachi, but was specially invited to Islamabad by the government for the talks.
Ul-Haq also confirmed that Ghazi was to be given a safe passage, but then had suddenly expressed concern for “foreign militants” and the situation changed. Asia Times Online talked to several members of the negotiating team but they said Ghazi never specifically mentioned “foreign militants”. “He always asked for guarantees for him as well as for those who were with him inside, but he never mentioned ‘foreign militants’,” said Maulana Hanif Jalandari, the secretary general of the Federal Board of Islamic Seminaries.
Asia Times Online contacts claim that the situation was complicated by the sudden appearance of a delegation of members of Parliament belonging to the government’s coalition partners, the Muttahida Quami Movement. They are believed to have met with a US official at his official residence, after which the situation changed within an hour.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IG11Df03.h tml
PM: While both of us are just guessing at what may come next in the Pakistan story, I think you are wrong in your predictions….
Quite contrary to the fact that this operation was used to scare the ‘liberal’ urbanite, it was done to actually gain their approval for Musharraf’s rule. Now the liberals once again find themselves in a quagmire where the only opposition to the mullah radical element is sitting in the Garrison and in the Presidency at the same time. Hence, liberals, if they consider the mullah to be a bigger threat than the autocratic ruler, would have little option but to support the President. We need credible politicians (not that there are more than a handful at best that qualify) to come out with a solid plan against extremism and with an agenda that speaks of democracy without radicalism and without jageerism..
After looking into the affairs of this country and condition of law and order, i feel that we are living in hell. Pakistan is the only country in the asia where you can
– play with law as per your power
– save yourself after killing dozen poor people
– give bribe and commit a crime as per own wish and roam free of charge
– even charged with murder, you can hold post of governer, CM etc.
– use police for your own purpose
– use state agencies for personal intersts at the cost of public money
– interpret law and rules even constitution as per own wishes
– loot the public by devising indirect taxation
– sell the govt businesses to your own cronies
– plunder the public money for honey moons and roam the world
– after each year go for umra at public expense and seek forgiveness for wrong forgiving
– even zakat money is extorted through banks and then spent by own wishes
– manipulates the numbers and show that you r progressing
– rape the women as per your wish
– snatch vehicles and mobiles
– collect bhatta’s at gun point
ETC ETC.
I cant find a light in a cave where all this is going on.
WHERE WE STAND, ARE WE BEHAVING LIKE A NATION?? WILL WE BE GOING TO SURVIVE BY DOING ALL SUCH THINGS? THATs THE QUESTION WHICH IF YOU THINK YOU CAN FIND TRUE ANSWER
I AM AFRAID OF THAT MOMENT……………..
Are we going
Objective 2: It was difficult for army to take actions against the people who were vocal during the CJP saga. This was due to the fact that these people were actually “Liberals” and any action against them would raise an international outcry. Since this distincion (Liberal Lawyers and Fanatics Moulvis) was very obvious during the CJP rallies. It was imperative to somehow make sure that the CJP rallies should somehow be branded as radicalist mullahs so that any action against them can be construed as action against radicals for the consumption of international media. The achievement of this objective is not yet known however following predictions will show how much this have been achieved.
1. In the upcoming days most of the rallies whether from CJP (which it seems to me will not be many) or from the public against this operations (which will obviously be labeled as radical) , there will be strict actions during these rallies.
2. Some of the vocal lawyers are either going the arrested or will be silenced during the days to follow.